There’s money between those lines…
Whether we’re talking the side-lines, the base-lines or the goal-lines athletes are earning a comfortable living.
If we look at the major sports you’ll get what I’m talking about.
In the NBA
Average Salary: $4.9Mil
Minimum Wage: $490,180
Highest Paid: Lebron $64.6Mil – $20.6mil salary – $44mil endorsements
On The ice the NHL has an
Average Salary: $2.58Mil
A of Minimum Wage: $550,000
And Sidney Crosby is pulling in $16.5mil this season $12mil salary 4.5mil endorsements
In the NFL
Average Salary: $2Mil
Minimum Wage: $405,000
Highest Paid: Ben Roethlisberger $48.9mil including bonuses and endorsements
Major League Baseball
Average Salary: $3.82Mil
Minimum Wage: $500,000
Highest Paid: $31.2 Clayton Kershaw Salary $30mil / endorsments$.1.2Mil
Top Earners for 2014
#1 Floyd Mayweather
Pay: $300Mil
Salary/Winnings: $285Mil
Endorsements: $15Mil
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo
Pay: $79.3Mil
Salary/Winnings: $52.6Mil
Endorsements: $27Mil
#5 Roger Federer
Pay: $67Mil
Salary/Winnings: $9Mil
Endorsements: $58Mil
(Numbers from Forbes)
So there’s money to be made but what you have to consider is who is making the money.
Every professional athlete is special in some way and that is why they command the dollars. They have worked their way through a system that is set up like a commodities market – if you have value and fit into the game you get paid.
It’s like the wild west – guns for hire and most often those guns go to the highest bidder.
Get it while it hot because the window of earning potential can be very small.
Average Playing Careers in the 4 Major Sports
NFL: According to one source the NFLPA states the average NFL playing career is 3.3yrs. The NFL says its 6.6yrs for a player who makes the club’s opening day roster in their rookie season.
NBA: 4.8 years
MLB: 5.6 years
NHL: 5.5 years
So get it while you can.
I have asked virtually every professional athlete, man & woman, who I have worked with which is harder – Getting there or staying there (meaning the professional levels of their respective sports)
100% say staying there is the hardest thing to do.
However, if you ask the thousands of athletes who get close or never quite make it, getting there is the hardest thing to do on this earth.
The one thing I can tell you about the athletes who “Get There” is the simple fact that they have made themselves special.
In some way they have identified and embraced their strengths and the talents and skills they excel at and they have learned and trained to become Masters in these performance areas. They are not necessarily great at everything but they are Masters at what they do well in their sports and…..well they can be pretty good at all of the other stuff as well.
So, if you want to get on The Talent Grid and work your way into the commodities market that is professional sport start by truly understanding what you are good at and work to be the best.
It’s great work if you can get it.
Jeff
